Remember
by kittykatloren
Summary: The nightmares were just as cold as the Shadow Realm itself. Trapped, bound, and helpless - only this time, there was no one fighting for her, no one outside who cared. Joey/Mai Polarshipping oneshot of little drabbles. ANIME.


**A/N:** My all-time favorite YGO couple. Mai and Joey are so adorable together. I hate people that keep them apart because of the age thing - in my mind, it doesn't matter at all, and it doesn't even seem like that much, either. Oh, man, I can't even begin to describe how adorable this couple is.

This fic is split into little drabbles, some of which use canon anime quotes BUT then diverge from canon in to what I WISH could have happened. I hope you enjoy - it's angst and fluff, from different points of view, though mostly some Mai angst. Waking the Dragons gave some really interesting character insight into her; I loved that saga. This fic begins with the scene in Episode 92, where Joey is attempting to free her from those chains before Marik sends her into the Shadow Realm.

Also, did I pick the right Japanese character names in the description of the story? Not sure...

Please, please, please, leave a review! What is with FF being so dry lately?!

**Words: **2285  
**Characters:** Joey, Mai  
**Time: **Throughout the series  
**Genre:** Angst/Romance

**Disclaimer: **Everything you recognize belongs to the creators of Yu-Gi-Oh, not me.

* * *

"We're… friends? Us?"

"You know it. And I'm always here for you, no matter what!"

Her eyes were glazed over with a cloud of emptiness as she looked at him, unseeing, unrecognizing. Her mouth moved like she was trying to speak again, but Joey heard no words, only the pounding of his own desperate heart loud in his ears. He brushed his thumb over her cheek, his fingers trembling.

"Joey…"

"That's it. You gotta remember, Mai!"

But that one flash of awareness soon vanished from her gaze just as Marik laughed again from somewhere behind them. Mai's head fell, hopeless, emotionless.

"No – Mai!"

"I… I don't remember…"

"_Mai!_"

He lifted her chin with his shaking hands and kissed her, suddenly unaware of the spectators, suddenly unaware of even the ground below his feet and the monster at his back. For a second, a second that felt as long as a lifetime, as long as the past, Mai didn't move. He had to do something, _anything_, to show her that he cared, to make her realize -

And then her eyes snapped open. She was so close that he could feel her long eyelashes whipping across his skin, and the touch shocked him like lightning. With his hands still touching her face, he didn't pull his lips away, but kissed her harder, she _had _to remember –

He felt her relax for a moment, still weak. Fear shot through his heart again.

But then she was kissing him, too. For one glorious moment, nothing else mattered, nothing except her lips against his. There were no monsters, no Marik, and no traps.

She broke away first, turning her head to the side and gasping. Joey gently guided her back to face him, and with a wave of relief so powerful that he felt his knees tremble, he noticed the familiar flicker of a smile in her eyes, the recognition, the life. A tear slipped down her cheek.

"Joey… you…"

Swiftly Joey brushed away the lone, warm tear. He almost managed a grin before hearing the monster's evil cackle from behind him. Joey's resolve, so nearly broken by the sight of her so blank and empty, hardened again, just as Mai's eyes flashed with fierce determination.

"Let's go! Now get me out of these chains!"

"All right! Now that's the Mai I remember!"

* * *

_The darkness was so all-encompassing, so deep, so deadly. Marik's contorted face howled with laughter, the earsplitting, terrifying noise growing louder with every passing second. It seemed to drown out all she had ever known, all she had ever loved. The noise and thick soon darkness began to suffocate her, unstoppable._

Please… please, Joey… don't let it happen again…

_The words were like a mantra in her mind, the only thing keeping her from losing everything to the sands around her. If only…_

_If only he could hear her._

_

* * *

_What felt like years later, though it was only days, they stood in the sunset, separated from the rest of their friends. Mai grinned from the seat of her car at the boy – no, the man –standing beside her. His eyes were bright but hesitant, she noticed, and she knew that – this time – she was the one who needed to speak.

"You said you'd do anything for me, didn't you, Joey? Well, do this. Make me another promise."

"Yeah?"

She leaned close to him, looking up, amazed at how serious his expression was. Never before had she met someone quite like him.

"Promise me you'll never quit. Make sure you fight your hardest, no matter who's the opponent, no matter the risks. Just fight. Because you've got it in you, you've got _something_, something that I can't explain. But it's there, and it's interesting, Joey, and you better keep it. So that when we meet again, I can know for certain that you're still _you_. After this whole tournament, we all know easy it is to lose that – ourselves – and I want to know that that'll never happen to you."

For a second, there was nothing more than stunned silence between them, Joey's mouth hanging open, puzzled. Mai smiled. She usually was not the sentimental type, after all; it was no wonder. _But this is only payback._

Mai tugged on his shirt and pulled him down to her, pressing a deep kiss to his lips. She lingered just long enough for him to recover from the shock before she pulled away, smiling at him from beneath her eyelashes.

"I promise, Mai," Joey said fiercely, their faces only inches apart. "I'll remember that. I'll remember everything. As long as you do too, all right? Don't throw yourself away, because I fought too hard for you to just stop fighting!"

"Never," she said, releasing him and winking. He took a step back as her car rumbled into life, that broad, confident, familiar smile clear on his face. "Till next time, Joey!"

As she drove away, a small smile tweaked at her lips, too.

_I guess he did hear me, after all._

_

* * *

__The nightmares were just as cold as the Shadow Realm itself. Trapped, bound, and helpless - only this time, there was no one fighting for her, no one outside who cared._

Every night, she woke with the chills, unable to distinguish tears from cold sweat on her face. She tried to wipe them away, but her hand was frozen, clenched around her sheets, and it would not move. The dampness settled icily on her skin.

She was alone. All too aware of that fact, she began to collapse, willing to give up anything – _anything_ – to stop herself from falling into the shadows every time she fell into a dream. How much longer could she take this pain, this fear, this loneliness? She had to break free, she knew. Every time she opened her eyes, she searched for the light, for the familiar comfort of someone that was never there.

The darkness began to inch into her soul, stealthy, pervasive.

And there was nothing that she alone could do to prevent it.

* * *

"_Joey!_"

She rushed to him, her mind whirling. All around her was darkness streaked with dangerous, emerald light, but all she saw was Joey – falling to his knees. She caught him and tried to lift him, to make him stand, because Joey _never_ fell, he never gave up –

But he was weak and trembling. She felt tears on her face but had no idea what to do about them, for all she could do was hold him, beg him to stay awake. The vicious light was closing in; she could feel the darkness pressing around her. His words and his eyes were like beacons in her mind, just like they always had been, and yet, he was pushing her away -

And then she was free. Free of the darkness, free of the cold – but with no one in her arms anymore. She dropped the ground beside him, touching his beaten face, seeing her own tears fall onto his cheeks. She spoke his name, again and again.

But it was no use. Not anymore. He was gone, and it was all her fault.

* * *

_I'm just not ready to face you yet.  
_

His face, his words, even his _spirit_ seemed to linger in her mind's eye as she walked away. They were all so close, so comforting, and yet –

She began to run, closing her eyes and completely disregarding where she put her feet. She could only hope that she didn't tumble and fall, for there was no one to catch her if she did.

_I won't come back until I can face up to what I've done._

Finally she reached her motorcycle; it was the only way to get so far from this place that Joey would never find her. Not until she was ready. Not until she could look into his eyes and _not_ feel the guilt that burned through her heart.

_I'm sorry, Joey._

She revved the engine, whipped around onto a small dirt road, and sped away, leaving a billowing trail of dust behind her that soon settled exactly as it had been before.

* * *

An entire year passed before he saw her again, the time ticking away like the hand of a broken clock. Not a single day passed that he didn't think of her. Whether during long hours that made his heart ache like a too-fast sprint, or during those fleeting, misty moments between sleep and reality when he wasn't sure if he had been dreaming or not, Joey never lost the memories, which rested like certain sharp, metal-edged feathers in his mind.

But when he heard her voice again, all that time seemed to disappear in an infinitesimal second.

"Hey, you. Wheeler."

He paused, disbelieving – then whipped around and closed the distance between them in mere moments. She stood just as he remembered her – tall, her hair shining, her back straight, and her head held high. But her eyes were more guarded now. She crossed her arms as he approached, looking a little wary – or perhaps, behind the proud pretense, it was a glimmer of fear that made her look so haughty.

"Mai!" Joey breathed, grinning broadly. "Mai, you – you came back! Man, am I glad to see you. I've missed you, Mai."

"You have? Really?"

"Course I have! How could I not? I mean, snide comments and condescending glares just make my day, don't they?"

Her eyes narrowed and the flicker of a familiar smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. "You haven't changed a bit, Joey."

"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't," said Joey, more serious now. He shrugged as he met her determined gaze. "Some part of me has, that's for sure. And some things will never change."

"I don't understand you," she said carefully. "After all I did to you, the first thing you did when you saw me was _smile_. As if nothing had changed. As if I had never hurt you and your friends. How can you _do_ that? How can you just forget everything I did?"

Only then did Joey realize what it was that was so different in her gaze. It wasn't caution, or even fear – it was pain. Pain and guilt. It was barely visible before, so well hidden by her wall of pride, but Joey could see it all too clearly now. Suddenly Mai bit her lip and turned away.

Without thinking, Joey stepped a little closer to her, uncrossed her arms, and gripped her soft hands. "I haven't forgotten," he said firmly. "And that means I haven't forgotten all the _good_ stuff you've done, Mai. You were the only who saved my sorry little butt in Duelist Kingdom. You were the one who fought against Marik with all your heart, showing us all how brave we had to be – brave, just like you. And even though you let those Orichalcos creeps convince you to work for a maniac for a while, you broke free of them in the end! You never attacked me in that duel, and you even went on to challenge Raphael, too. I could never in a million years repay you for all you've done for me."

"But I couldn't have done any of that without you, Joey," she murmured.

"Maybe so. Then it's lucky you have me, right? And I'm lucky I have you, cause there are too many times to count where I relied on you to keep me from losing everything. You always kept me fighting, Mai."

The half-smile suddenly reappeared on her face. "So is that it, then?"

"Is what it, then?"

"Answer me with the truth, Joey," she commanded. "Will I always have you? I had to stay away from you – from everyone – for as long as it took me to figure out what I wanted. And I think I know it now. Even if I can survive on my own, I don't want to anymore, Joey. So I've got to know before I move on if there's someone else in this world that I can count on, because I've never managed to find someone good enough so far."

Joey stood, stunned speechless, for a long moment before his mind snapped back into life.

"I'll never let you down, Mai," he said fiercely. "I did once, I know. I let you leave after all those Shadow Realm duels were over. But never again. I'll always be here for you, you got that?"

Neither of them spoke. They simply met each other's gazes quite evenly, each studying the very different blazes that burned brightly like miniature suns.

Mai smiled. Her eyes sparkled now, like they did before, but a little more authentically, somehow. Joey pulled her into a massive bear-hug, hearing a tiny squeak of protest before he kissed her. Her slender fingers twisted in his hair as he pressed his hands comfortingly against her back.

By the time they began to walk home together, the sun was setting across the sky in a flash of pale pink like iridescent paint mixed with water. Joey walked close to Mai, an arm around her shoulders, refusing to let her go for even a second. It was ridiculous, he knew, but for some reason he could not bear to release her when he had so recently nearly lost her for good.

"Hey, Joey," Mai said, a subtly innocent and sly tone in her voice.

"Yeah?"

"We never _did_ have that rematch, you know."


End file.
